Holditch Colliery disaster

Last updated

Holditch Colliery disaster
Date2 July 1937
Time05:45 GMT
LocationHolditch Colliery, Staffordshire, England
Also known asBrymbo Colliery
Deaths30
Non-fatal injuries8

The Holditch Colliery disaster was a coal mining accident on 2 July 1937, in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England, in which 30 men died and eight were injured. It was caused by a fire and subsequent explosions, and was exacerbated by a decision from management to risk the lives of mine workers to try to save the coal seam.

Contents

The colliery

Archaeologists believe that the area itself was mined as long ago as Roman times. [1]

Holditch Colliery, also known as Brymbo Colliery, opened in 1912, and was one of a number of coal mines in Staffordshire. [1] It was located around two miles north west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. [2] Formerly the main employer in Chesterton, the colliery employed 1,500 men and mined ironstone in addition to coal. With varying amounts of coal coming out of the colliery per year, in 1947 it hit 400,000 tonnes. [1] In many ways an old-fashioned mine, steam power was in some form used up until 1980. [1] It was believed to have been the most gassy colliery in Britain. [3] The colliery consisted of two 2,000 feet deep shafts, sunk in 1912 and 1916, working Great Row and the Four Feet seams. [2]

Despite heavy investment in the 1960s and 1970s the colliery closed down in 1990, just three years after the end of the year long miners' strike. Just before its closure it was taking out over 500,000 tonnes of coal a year. [4] Many of the miners transferred to nearby Silverdale Colliery, which itself closed down on Christmas Eve 1998. The current site of Holditch Colliery is now a large business park.

Disaster

At around 5:45 am on 2 July 1937, two coal cutter men (Herman Payne and William Beardmore) were working when Beardmore noticed a flame. [5] The flame spread quickly across the coalface into a deadly wall of fire. [5] The two men quickly fled and actually survived the disaster which was about to strike. [5]

Of the 55 men working in the vicinity of the fire, all but two managed to escape (W.Hystead and Arthur Stanton). [5] The two men became lost in the smoke, which eventually overcame them. [5] The remaining 53 men attempted in vain to extinguish the fire, with the timber supports ablaze and threatening roof collapse, the overman ordered the stone dust to be dumped and spread about as near to the fire as possible. [5] These efforts also proved futile and so the men retreated further back and took a roll call – revealing the absence of Hystead and Stanton. [5] By now the fire had taken hold and the two men were feared lost. [5]

Whilst the men were fighting a losing battle against the fire, day shift officials, who had been informed of the fire, arrived on the scene. [5] One of these men, H.Bentley, ordered a night shift ripper, John Hassell, to meet him at the right hand gate. [5] Here an explosion occurred at around 6:50, leaving Bentley with burns and killing Hassell. [5] Bentley recruited collier E.Beech to help him search for Hassell, but they failed to find him. [5]

"After my examination in the morning my mind was made up that those three men were dead. I do see they could have possibly have been alive from the atmosphere I saw."

— Davies believed the three missing men to be dead, but Hystead somehow made it out alive. [2]

Explosions occurring in the mine, a full evacuation was ordered. By around 7:10 the men met in the main crut. [5] The manager ordered for stoppings to be put on in the cruts, and sand, stone and dust was brought in for this purpose. [5] Ten minutes later the night-shift workers were sent home, as the day-shift workers began work on the stoppings. [5] The management team began inspecting the mine to decide upon a further course of action. Mr. Cocks, the managing director, ordered that the location of the stoppings be changed, despite disagreement from his team. [5] This proved to be a fatal decision, as the new location was in unsettled ground. The original plan by Mr.Davies, was to put two stopping dams in solid ground, and would allow for easy transportation of materials at a distance of less than 500 yards from the pit bottom. [5] The revised plan Mr.Cocks ordered meant erecting three such dams in unstable ground, also providing air to the fire, and requiring a travelling distance of 1,300 yards for essential tools and equipment. [5] The reason taken for this new plan was to save the coal seam. [5]

"This change in the original plan of the manager was a vital matter, resulting, as it did, in the large death toll."

— Inspector Mr.F.H. Wynne finds that the change of plan was fatal to the men. [2]

By now 9:00, two government inspectors, Mr.Finney and Mr. Bloor, arrived on the scene, joining Davies at the pit bottom. [5] Ten minutes later a sixth explosion occurred, though the 35 men who were in the mine continued in their work, along with the three missing men believed to be lost. [5] Shortly before 10:10 a seventh small explosion occurred, followed by an eighth, and deadly blast. [5] The eighth explosion had sent men working 1,000 yards away to the ground, reversing the ventilation system, and killing thirty men, badly burning the remaining eight. [5]

Men who lost their lives

Source: [5]

Men who escaped with injuries

Source: [5]

Aftermath

"I desire to thank the hon. and gallant Gentleman for his words of sympathy and appreciation of these brave men. They went down the pit to save their fellows, and Staffordshire will never forget them."

—  Josiah Wedgwood, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, speaking in the House of Commons. [6]

On 19 October 1937 Scottish Football League champions Rangers travelled to the Victoria Ground to play Stoke City in a benefit match for the victims of the disaster, raising £2,000 for the relief fund. [7]

Today a memorial stands to the victims at Apedale Heritage Centre. [8]

Investigation

The first plan was the safest course of action, however the second plan was adopted to save profits at the risk of lives.

"It is my considered opinion that at the time the second plan was adopted, very dangerous conditions existed, and were known at the time to exist which made the attempt to follow this plan a matter of imminent peril to the lives of the unnecessarily large number of men required to execute it."

— Inspector Mr.F.H. Wynne concludes his investigation. [5]

The original fire was concluded to have originated in the coal cutting machine and was due to frictional heat produced by the picks in the cut. [2] The explosions were caused by firedamp. [2]

Later tragedies

Between 1949 and 1967 eleven more deaths were recorded. Most of these were due to roof falls. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abercanaid</span> Village in South Wales

Abercanaid is a small village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom with a population of about 5,060. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Merthyr town centre and is west of Pentrebach, across the River Taff and north of Troedyrhiw. The Taff Trail runs through the village, adjacent to the path of the disused Glamorganshire Canal, which was an important in transporting iron and coal during the industrial boom in which the South Wales Valleys prospered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesterton, Staffordshire</span> Former mining village in Staffordshire, England

Chesterton is a former mining village on the edge of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the Newcastle-under-Lyme district, in Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senghenydd colliery disaster</span> Mining explosion in 1913

The Senghenydd colliery disaster, also known as the Senghenydd explosion, occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales, on 14 October 1913. The explosion, which killed 439 miners and a rescuer, is the worst mining accident in the United Kingdom. Universal Colliery, on the South Wales Coalfield, extracted steam coal, which was much in demand. Some of the region's coal seams contained high quantities of firedamp, a highly explosive gas consisting of methane and hydrogen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaks explosion</span> 1866 British mining disaster

The Oaks explosion, which happened at a coal mine in West Riding of Yorkshire on 12 December 1866, remains the worst mining disaster in England. A series of explosions caused by firedamp ripped through the underground workings at the Oaks Colliery at Hoyle Mill near Stairfoot in Barnsley killing 361 miners and rescuers. It was the worst mining disaster in the United Kingdom until the 1913 Senghenydd explosion in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gresford disaster</span> 1934 coal mining disaster near Wrexham, Wales

The Gresford disaster occurred on 22 September 1934 at Gresford Colliery, near Wrexham, when an explosion and underground fire killed 261 men. Gresford is one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters: a controversial inquiry into the disaster did not conclusively identify a cause, though evidence suggested that failures in safety procedures and poor mine management were contributory factors. Further public controversy was caused by the decision to seal the colliery's damaged sections permanently, meaning that the bodies of only 8 of the miners were ever recovered. Two of the three rescue men who died were brought out leaving the third body in situ until recovery operations began the following year.

Clifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton on the Manchester Coalfield, historically in Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974. Clifton Hall was notorious for an explosion in 1885 which killed around 178 men and boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wattstown</span> Human settlement in Wales

Wattstown is a village located in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Located in the Rhondda Fach valley it is a district of the community of Ynyshir. Prior to mid 19th century industrialisation the area was once little more than a wooded area, sparsely populated by farmsteads. With the coming of the coal industry Wattstown became a busy, densely populated village, but with the closure of the collieries Wattstown suffered an economic downturn that still affects the village today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Staffordshire Coalfield</span>

The North Staffordshire Coalfield was a coalfield in Staffordshire, England, with an area of nearly 100 square miles (260 km2), virtually all of it within the city of Stoke on Trent and the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, apart from three smaller coalfields, Shaffalong and Goldsitch Moss Coalfields near Leek and the Cheadle Coalfield. Coal mining in North Staffordshire began early in the 13th century, but the industry grew during the Industrial Revolution when coal mined in North Staffordshire was used in the local Potteries ceramics and iron industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Pit Disaster</span> 1918 coal mining accident in England

The Minnie Pit disaster was a coal mining accident that took place on 12 January 1918 in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys died. The disaster, which was caused by an explosion due to firedamp, is the worst ever recorded in the North Staffordshire Coalfield. An official investigation never established what caused the ignition of flammable gases in the pit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gresford Colliery</span> Former coal mine in Gresford, Wrexham, Wales

Gresford Colliery was a coal mine located a mile from the North Wales village of Gresford, near Wrexham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drummond Mine explosion</span>

The Drummond Mine explosion, also called the Drummond Colliery Disaster, was a mining accident that happened in Westville, Pictou County, Nova Scotia on May 13, 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford Colliery disaster</span> 1886 coal mining disaster

The Bedford Colliery disaster occurred on Friday 13 August 1886 when an explosion of firedamp caused the death of 38 miners at Bedford No.2 Pit, at Bedford, Leigh in what then was Lancashire. The colliery, sunk in 1884 and known to be a "fiery pit", was owned by John Speakman.

Sir William Galloway was a Scottish mining engineer, professor and industrialist.

The Cadeby Main Pit Disaster was a coal mining accident on 9 July 1912 which occurred at Cadeby Main Colliery in Cadeby, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, killing 91 men. Early in the morning of 9 July an explosion in the south-west part of the Cadeby Main pit killed 35 men, with three more dying later due to their injuries. Later in the same day, after a rescue party was sent below ground, another explosion occurred, killing 53 men of the rescue party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abercarn colliery disaster</span> Explosion in the Prince of Wales Colliery

The Abercarn colliery disaster was a catastrophic explosion within the Prince of Wales Colliery in the Welsh village of Abercarn, on 11 September 1878, killing 268 men and boys. The cause was assumed to have been the ignition of firedamp by a safety lamp. The disaster is the third worst for loss of life to occur within the South Wales Coalfield.

The Risca colliery disasters were a series of catastrophic mine explosions near the Welsh town of Risca in the nineteenth century. The most serious of these were in 1860 when more than 140 died in the Black Vein colliery and in 1880 when 120 died at the New Risca colliery.

The Sneyd Colliery Disaster was a coal mining accident on 1 January 1942 in Burslem in the English city of Stoke-on-Trent. An underground explosion occurred at 7:50 am, caused by sparks from wagons underground igniting coal dust. A total of 57 men and boys died.

The Diglake Colliery Disaster, was a coal-mining disaster at what was Audley Colliery in Bignall End, North Staffordshire, on 14 January 1895. A flood of water rushed into the mine and caused the deaths of 77 miners. Only three bodies were recovered, with efforts to retrieve the dead hampered by floodwater. 73 bodies are still entombed underground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cymmer Colliery explosion</span> July 1856 mining disaster in Wales

The Cymmer Colliery explosion occurred in the early morning of 15 July 1856 at the Old Pit mine of the Cymmer Colliery near Porth, Wales, operated by George Insole & Son. The underground gas explosion resulted in a "sacrifice of human life to an extent unparalleled in the history of coal mining of this country" in which 114 men and boys were killed. Thirty-five widows, ninety-two children, and other dependent relatives were left with no immediate means of support.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Holditch Colliery". exploringthepotteries.org.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "HOLDITCH. Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. 2nd. July, 1937" (PDF). cmhrc.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Holditch colliery". staffspasttrack.org.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Holditch Colliery". myweb.tiscali.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Lumsdon, John. "HOLDITCH COLIERY EXPLOSION 1937". healeyhero.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "HOLDITCH COLLIERY DISASTER". HC Deb 05 July 1937 vol 326 cc33-6. 5 July 1937. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  7. ↑ "The Holditch Coliery Disaster 1937". rangersfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  8. ↑ Lumsdon, John. "Holditch Colliery Explosion 1937". northstaffsminers.btik.com. Retrieved 31 August 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Holditch Colliery (11 deaths)". myweb.tiscali.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2010.

53°01′51″N2°14′52″W / 53.0308392°N 2.2476482°W / 53.0308392; -2.2476482

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.